Monday, November 28, 2011

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Sleep.....it's every new mom's dream! I have to say that at the beginning, we definitely lucked out with Little Man. I never felt the absolute utter exhaustion and sleep deprivation that most new moms feel. He slept in 3 hour stretches and by the time he was 7 weeks old, Drew would go down around 10:30 and sleep 5 or so hours then feed, and then sleep another 4 hours or so.

When we transitioned Drew to his crib at almost 4 months old it was a breeze! He would go down easily, wake a few times a night for a quick "paci plug" and sometimes a quick feed and then sleep until morning. Then came teeth......

Little Man cut his first teeth at the beginning of May and it was miserable (for all of us)! From that point on the time he spent in bed with us would become more and more frequent. We tried "crib boot camp" to get him to spend the night in his own bed. This would involve lots of rocking, putting him back into his crib, crying, rocking....repeat over and over again. It would semi work and then something would come up - more teeth, going away, etc and we would regress back to sleeping with Mom and Mama.

Now don't get me wrong, I love snuggling with the Little Guy! However, when he takes up more of the bed than the two adults combined, problems arise. He is a thrasher and mover when he sleeps and NO ONE was getting a restful nights sleep. But we would keep taking him into our bed because it was easier and better than being up for half of the night when you have to go to work the next day.

Fast forward to the beginning of November. Drew was now wanting to come to bed with us by 8:30 in the evening. It was a little different when it was midnight, but 8:30 is a bit early. We need some "adult" time in the evening after he goes down and before we go to bed! We decided that the long Thanksgiving Holiday was the time to take action!

We started with naps. At the babysitter, he goes down fully awake, no fussing and sleeps for 2 hours twice a day. We were lucky if we could get 2 hour long naps out of him. We asked Lisa what she does and decided to stick to the same routine! The first time he cried on and off for about 15 minutes and then took a 45 min nap. That same afternoon he cried for about 2 minutes and slept for an hour and a half. The next morning; no crying and 1 1/2 hour nap! Not too bad!

We went to his pediatricians appt on Tuesday and she told us we need to get him to stay in his own bed NOW before he catapults himself out of his own crib when he is a bit older. We discussed how he "had our number" (we KNEW that!) and that we really needed to just let him cry and figure out how to stay in his own bed. She also stated that he may cry for upwards of 2 hours.

We decided to give it a go. Put him down......2 minutes of fussing......off to sleep. Midnight wake up - gave him paci, blankey and told him it was night night time. He cried on and off for 45 minutes, but then stayed in his bed until 7:30 in the morning! Success! The next night he woke up a 2AM, cried on and off for 15 minutes and stayed in his bed until 7:45! Subsequent nights have seen Little Man staying in his bed ALL night without a peep! We did it and it wasn't nearly as bad as we thought!

I have to say that I think it worked so well because we were ALL ready for this to happen. We are so proud of Mister and we have been praising him tons for being such a big boy!

For those of you hoping for a full night of sleep....never fear....you will get there!

For those of you who have read all the way through this.....it was longer than I thought! Here is a recent pic for you!

Friday, November 25, 2011

{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Oh, this thing called blogging has certainly taken a backseat now that Little Man is around! It is amazing how time just goes by and another day passes with no update to the blog. So, here is what has been happening around here over the last few weeks!

**We had to put our sweet furbaby Sadie Jane down a few weeks ago. She was getting old (almost 13!) and her hips, eyesight, hearing etc were just going. It was terrible and heartwrenching, but we know it was best for her. We were able to bury her at my parents' farm with her brother Willy and my parents' dogs Zeke and Zeus.

At the end of the October, we celebrated MJ's birthday by going away for the weekend and attending a Murd.er Mys.tery at The Hi.ghlands I.nn. All I have to say is it was SO MUCH FUN!!!! 25ish les.bians all dressed up and playing the parts in our Rob.in Ho.od based Mur.der My.stery. We will definitely go back again as they do it every year! Here we are as Clor.inda, Quee.n of the Shepher.desses and Ro.bin Ho.od.

It was beautiful last weekend so we ventured up to LL B.ean with Little Man. It was lots of fun to wander the shops and we had to take his picture with the big boot!

Mr. Man thoroughly enjoyed his first birthday and he recevied many cars, trucks, tractors and other wheelie things. Needless to say, he is in his glory! Give that kid something with wheels and he can't contain his excitement!

He especially enjoyed the cards that people gave to him. We still have many of them as he enjoys "reading" them over and over again. A few have been torn into pieces, but he gravitates toward them!

Drew made his first art project this week. Our amazing babysitter made these with the kids. He oooohhhed and ahhhhed when he showed it to us. Needless to say, we were two proud Moms and it is hanging on our fridge!﻿

It has been busy but wonderful. We are so looking forward to entering the holiday season again this year. Last year was wonderful finally celebrating as a little family but we were still in that newborn haze. This year we get to take everything in through our son's eyes and I am sure it will not dissapoint.

Friday, November 18, 2011

{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.
A singlephoto – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Friday, November 11, 2011

{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Saturday, November 5, 2011

One year ago today our lives changed forever! After four long years struggling with infertility our amazing son entered this world and today we celebrate him! We love you Drew Richard...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Little Man!

You are ONE year old! It is incredible to think that one year ago we held this tiny bundle in our arms and now you have grown into this incredible little human being. Your energy is endless and you bring smiles and laughs into our lives each and every day. We wouldn't know what to do without you in our lives.

You continue to be obsessed with all things that have wheels. Trucks, tractors, and cars are clearly your favorite toys. You love to crawl with them and zoom all around the house. You make the cutest "car noises" when you play with them. You also love to just sit and spin the wheels around. You are definitely all boy when it comes to playing with your cars and trucks.

You have started talking more and more. You certainly jibber jabber all the time, but you have some words that you say as well. You say kitty, Opa, Boo Boo (Nana and Opa's dog's name), tractor, WOW!, uh oh, wheeeee and chick. We are amazed at how your language develops and you learn new words all of the time.

You are such an outdoors boy. You love to play outside and you don't mind getting dirty. You love to play in the dirt and crawl all over the grass. You had lots of fun playing in a pile of leaves that your Nana made for you. You especially love playing outside at your Nana and Opa's farm and you have no fear of the animals in the barnyard. You also love to slide and you say wheeee when you go down the slide.

You are very independent and you like to do things on your own. You certainly let us know when you don't like something and sometimes your personality can be as firey as your hair! You definitely keep us on our toes!

You had your first real sickness this month and you had croup. Boy, oh boy, was that miserable. You were sick for 6 days and barely ate anything. Your cough was just terrible and we kept you really close by because it was quite scary. You bounced back just fine though and now we'd never know you were sick.

You continue to be a fantastic eater. Some days we have no idea where you put all of your food. We are amazed at the amount you can eat! We also transitioned you to cow's milk at the end of this month and you made that transistion just fine.

You celebrated your first Halloween this year and you dressed up like a lion. You were so cute! We took you to your Nana and Opa's and you said "trick or treat" to them. You loved dressing up and you thought you were a kitty! We got some great pictures of you in your costume.

We also enjoyed a nice outing at an apple orchard with Pride Parents of NH. It was great to go and have fun with a bunch of other kids who have two Moms just like you! We picked apples, went on a hayride, and played on the playground. You really loved the bounce house and Mom had to climb inside to get you!

We are amazed at the skills you learn each and every day. You grow so quickly and your skills develop at such an amazing pace! You are very coordinated and we can't believe your ability to stack blocks, push buttons on toys, and spin wheels on cars. We can't wait to see what you learn to do next.

You are very close to walking but you haven't taken your first steps yet. You spend some time standing on your own and you like to push things and walk behind them. We think you are perfectly happy to just crawl and you will walk when you decide you are good and ready.

You are wearing 12 month clothes now, but your pants are 9 months and you are still in size 3 diapers. You weigh 20 pounds and you are still very long and lean. Your looks change all of the time and you really are a toddler now. It is amazing how you seem to grow overnight sometimes.

Your curiosity continues to amaze us. You are all about figuring out how things work. You are very independent and you have a happiness that is contagious! You bring an amazing amount of joy into our lives and we look forward to what the next year will bring!